United States v. Derrick Reese, 20-10030

In 2009 Reese sold 6.85 grams of crack cocaine to undercover agents, pleaded guilty to distributing crack under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and was sentenced to 188 months' imprisonment.
Reese’s plea agreement and PSR described the statutory maximum as “not more than 20 years” and cited § 841(b)(1)(C).
The indictment did not allege any drug quantity.
After the First Step Act (2018) made the Fair Sentencing Act’s quantity-based penalties retroactive, Reese moved in 2019 to reduce his sentence under § 404 of the First Step Act.
The district court denied the motion as unavailable to Reese; he appealed, arguing he was eligible for a reduction under the Act.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Reese is eligible for a First Step Act sentence reduction under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)	Reese: his offense should be treated as subject to the Act’s retroactive reductions (i.e., qualifying under amended A/B penalties)	Government/District Court: Reese was sentenced under § 841(b)(1)(C) (20-year max, no mandatory minimum), which Fair Sentencing Act and First Step Act did not change	Court: Reese was sentenced under (C); (C) unaffected by the Fair Sentencing Act/First Step Act; affirmation of denial

United States v. Jones, 962 F.3d 1290 (11th Cir. 2020) (courts determine which § 841(b)(1) subparagraph governed by consulting the record)
Norris v. United States, 820 F.3d 1261 (11th Cir. 2016) (abuse-of-discretion review for denial of an eligible movant’s First Step Act reduction)